SPHÈRE

He's back! Bassist extraordinaire Antoine Fafard returns with another stellar Jazz Fusion album--this time using drumming legend GARY HUSBAND (LEVEL 42, ALLAN HOLDSWORTH, JOHN McLAUGHLIN), along with long-time collaborator JERRY DE VILLIERS, JR on guitar. Though I truly appreciate the creativity in the song performances coming from such virtuosi of their respective instruments, the album does come up a little short of the heights of Antoine's previous album, Ad Perpetuum (2014).

1. "Reminiscence" (5:56) is a nice, even paced song quite reminiscent of Antoine's last album, Ad Perpetuum, except for the more open turn-taking of the bass solo. Nice keyboard solo from Gary Husband in the fifth minute. Not a bad song, just not anything really new. (8/10)

2. "Renaissance Man" (5:16) starts out sounding like a slowed down version of the previous song. The title may refer to Gary for his dual role as percussionist and keyboard track artist. He is truly extraordinary at both. (8/10)

3. "Facta Non Verba" (5:51) a commendable song for Jerry's attempts at going outside his usual style and breakneck speeds. The stop-and-start rhythm construction is okay for a while, but it gets old. (8/10)

4. "Fur & Axes - Part II" (5:05) opens with some sounds and chords that hold a lot of potential--unresolved angst. The band manages to retain some of this tension over the opening discourse, and even into the first shift, but then at 1:30, when everything quiets down, it is lost; it becomes soft and pretty, even comforting; the tension cannot be regained--even despite Jerry's best efforts in the third and fourth minutes. Still, I'd like to hear more songs like this one. (9/10)

5. "Still Invictus" (7:58) my favorite song on the album. It has great variety shifting right and left, using multiple paces and chord foundations. I get quite a thrill hearing the opening and then following all of the instruments throughout the course of this great song. (10/10)

6. "Cherishing" (4:33) ventures into more atmospheric jazz a la EBERHARD WEBER. This is the kind of variety that I like to here more of from Antoine. Really nice drum and piano work from Gary. I especially like the feeling that the drum is not the rhythm keeper but a lead instrument--really cool! (10/10)

7. "No-Brainer" (5:19) is a little more laid back, world music/jazz oriented (I like the Latin AL DI MEOLA feel to it) though the drumming feels like the same old same old. Excellent fretless bass play (and soli!) with some really nice JAN HAMMER-like synth soloing as well. Even Jerry's Holdsworth-like solo is welcome (cuz it comes late in the song-- and cuz it duels with Gary's synth), but the key to this success is, IMO, due to Antoine's restraint on the bass in the second half of the song. (9/10)

8. "Celestial Roots" (6:00) has an edgy, bluesy, almost raunchy CORVUS STONE-like feel to it (though the drumming is, once again, same old same ole). Even Antoine's solo in the second & third minutes is 'different'--more earthy. Solid song but nothing that leaves me wanting more. (8/10)

9. "Bubonic Groove" (6:06) opens with a polyrhythmic weave of syncopated arpeggi similar to KING CRIMSON Discipline music. The rhythm guitar strums that enter after 30 seconds sound like Andy Summers (THE POLICE) and then Jerry De Villiers' guitar--and, later, Gary Husband's synth soloing--takes one out of KC thinking altogether and back to jazz fusion world. I feel as if I am listening to Jan Hammer, Jean-Luc Ponty's long time bass player (Ralphe Armstrong comes to mind but it could've been Randy Jackson), and Allan Holdsworth together. The song fails to rise to the heights that the beginning of the second minute seems to promise. It seems that the breakdowns in song flow or group weave in order to make room for soloists--which is the traditional jazz way--works against Antoine's music for some reason. Great bass solo at the end of the fourth minute/beginning of the fifth. (9/10)

Where Sphère comes up short is in fresh sounds. As amazing a guitarist as Jerry De Villiers is (I think he is better than the man to whom he is most compared, Allan Holdsworth), one begins to become innured to his one guitar sound. (I have the exact same problem with Allan Holdsworth.) I am thankful for his attempts to temper and vary his sound and style but I think the music misses the counterbalancing inputs of the keyboards and saxophones that Antoine's previous album had. Gary Husband is a great drummer--a great drummer--but, let's face it, any drumming would be a let down when compared to Vinnie Colaiuta's drumming of the last album--which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest whole-album performances by a drummer that I have ever heard.